Rolando Aguirre, president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, writes that Hispanics make up more than 50 percent of student enrollment in Texas public schools, so “It would be fair to say the success of Texas schools rises or falls with Hispanic students,” and...
Recently, New America released a report regarding Illinois’ ESSA plan and how it will impact and improve how the state tracks and uses data regarding its fast-growing population of English learners. Home to the fifth-largest population of K–12 English learners in the country, New America...
Education Week’s Larry Ferlazzo asks: “What is the impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act on English Language Learners?” He discusses this question with numerous contributors, including Margo Gottlieb, Sarah Said, Catherine Beck, Heidi Pace, Heather Wolpert-Gawron, Tabitha Dell’Angelo, and Lindsey Moses. Ferlazzo thinks ESSA could potentially...
New America Foundation’s Conor P. Williams writes that, when it comes to ESSA, he can say “I told you so.” The law “combines a thin veneer of civil rights equity with excruciating complexity and uncertain accountability.” Williams argues that it “takes a relatively simple federal...
Governor Tom Wolf signed off on Pennsylvania’s ESSA plan and “submitted it to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for her approval.” The plan establishes “ambitious yet attainable” goals of “raising student performance, increasing graduation rates and having English learners move toward achieving English language proficiency.”
According to the Migration Policy Institute, ESSA “mandates that states provide greater information to the public regarding English proficiency progress and academic achievement for English Learners (ELs),” and “encourages states to engage with a variety of community stakeholders during the development of these accountability plans.”...
New America Foundation released two policy papers that address using data on English Learners (EL) “in light of new flexibilities for setting EL outcomes, goals, and accountability metrics under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).” “Seeing Clearly: Five Lenses to Bring English Learner Data...
Florida is seeking a waiver from “several fundamental portions of ESSA that dictate how schools handle some of the country’s most historically underperforming and disadvantaged students.” The state is “asking, among other things, that it not be required to judge schools based on how well English-learners...
The 74 highlighted ESSA plans that focused on helping English Learners. According to the piece, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Illinois are “making good use of their newfound flexibility” for EL students. The 74 explains that ESSA leaves important EL decisions up to the states, including:...
Conor Williams, senior researcher for New America’s Education Policy Program, authored a piece on English Learner policy trends in ESSA plans. Williams raised concerns over state plans that are using various forms of “escalating proficiency targets.” He argues that “this approach to ELs and school...
